Germany's ProSiebenSat.1 Boosts Actors' SVOD Residuals

Actors could see earnings increase 20-25 percent under the new rules, which compensate talent for digital reruns.

Germany's ProSiebenSat.1, one of Europe's leading media and entertainment groups, has agreed to a new deal that will see actors in its TV series and films get paid substantially more to compensate for digital reruns and SVOD viewing.

The deal, announced by the German actors union, will see residuals for on-air talent jump 20-25 percent.

Under the new agreement, actors in TV movies shown on ProSiebenSat.1's channels that later cross a certain audience threshold on its SVOD services will be compensated up to $11,000 (€10,000) for the film's digital exploitation, while series actors will receive up to $5,500 (€5,000) per episode. For all subsequent digital thresholds, actors will be paid an additional $13,200 (€12,000) or $6,600 (€6,000), respectively. The actors union said the agreement meant that more than $1 million in additional residuals would be paid out to around 850 actors.

ProSiebenSat.1 has been putting a stronger focus on creative talent in recent months as it shifts its business model to adjust to a more on-demand marketplace. The company's production arm, Red Arrow, has been actively buying up companies in the U.S. and elsewhere to feed its production pipeline.

This summer the group went one step further, issuing an open invitation to writers and producers from around the world to submit pitches for series and miniseries for ProSiebenSat.1 to co-develop and produce. The group will pick 15 projects from the global pitch session, which runs through Aug. 3, to put into development.

Previous international productions backed by ProSiebenSat.1 include the Golden Globe-nominated miniseries The Pillars of the Earth, sci-fi series Primeval and European crime procedural Crossing Lines.

ProSiebenSat.1 is itself in merger talks with German publishing giant Axel Springer. If the two companies combine, it would create a European media giant valued at nearly $16 billion.